The Rock...Expedition
by BlueElli
Summary: Obi-Wan loses the stone that Qui-Gon gave him for his 13th birthday just before his first solo mission. Not wanting to tell Qui-Gon he gets Jesi to help him find it...minor complications insue. Pre-Hunted. Not dependent on series but it helps.


**Title: The Rock…Expedition**

**Author: BlueElli**

**Summary: Obi-Wan loses the stone that Qui-Gon gave him for his 13th birthday just before his first solo mission. He and Jesi make it a point to find it before he leaves. Includes lots of…garbage…literally..lol.**

Review: OF COURSE! 

**Series: Uh..this would take place between The Line and Hunted. Doesn't have too much of an effect on the series at all, just kinda let's everyone know that I don't torture my characters all the time…eheheheh.**

**Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own Star Wars or any part of it's Universe. This is just for fun, no profit.**

**Note: This is just a little thing I wrote a while back. There like 3 other shorties like this. If anyone likes this one I might post them. But you have to tell me if you like them! So review!**

**Notices: Italics are personal thoughts. ****'s are time differences. ~~~~'s are scene differences.**

**The Rock…Expedition**

**BUZZZZ! **

Jesi opened one eye and looked at the time. 6 hundred hours. No way was she getting up at this time on her day off. She had to be off planet by tomorrow and she had all plans on sleeping in this morning.

**BUZZZZ!!**

_Nope, whoever it is can just find me later._

**BUUUUZZZZZZZ! Buz, buz,buz,buz, buz, buz, buz, buz, buz!**

_Oh for Gods' sake! _

"Alright, I'm up." She murmured throwing her comforter off and getting off the bed that pleaded for her to stay.

**_BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!! _**

"I'm coming!" She shouted walking through her common room towards the door while sliding her robe on. Opening the door she came eye to eye with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He looked like he was on the verge of panic.

"Obi-Wan, what's wrong?" She asked tiredly, yawning.

"I lost my rock." He said.

Jesi blinked. "What?"

"The rock. You know that red and black rock that I always have with me?" Obi-Wan explained.

Jesi's sleepy mind recalled the stone and she blinked again. "Yeah, I remember it."

"I lost it." He said desperately.

"I'm still not getting the problem here." She said leaning on the door more.

"Master Qui-Gon gave that to me for my 13th birthday, I always have it. You have to help me find it." Obi-Wan said quickly.

Jesi yawned again but waving him to follow as she turned back inside. 

"Coffee?" She asked moving to the kitchen.

"I don't like it." He replied stopping at the island sitting on one of the stools. Jesi looked at him.

"How long have you been up?" 

"Since 4." 

Jesi grunted flicking the switch for the coffee.

"Where'd you lose it at?" She asked moving back to the island and leaning on it.

"I don't know. Problem 2. The 3rd problem is I HAVE to find it before I leave on mission at noon today." 

Jesi rubbed her eyes. 

"If you have something else to do I can look-"

"No, it's ok." Jesi told him.

"I'd ask someone else but most of my friends are off planet and the rest have training today."

"It's alright kid. Don't you have training today?" Jesi said moving at the sound of the coffee done.

"Master gave me the 'day off' since I'm leaving later. I should be getting my things together." He explained.

"Ah, I see. So, you don't know where you lost it. Where was the last place you had it?"

Obi-Wan was quick to answer, Jesi figured he had gone over this a million times already.

"Yesterday afternoon. Before I went to sparring." 

"Do you put it away anywhere when you spar?" 

"I change yeah. From my normal tunics to work out."

"Did you leave it in your normal tunics?" 

"I keep it in a pouch on my belt." He said pointing to the cream that Jesi was looking for. She winked a thanks then thought again.

"Where did you put your belt when you're sparring?" 

"I put it on the corner of my desk." 

Jesi put the mug down and hopped onto the counter and thought. She'd only seen Obi-Wan's room a few times, and at that she was at the door. 

"What's next to your desk?" She asked.

Obi-Wan thought a moment. "Nothing really."

"No recycling basket? Waste bin?" 

"A waste bin but…Ohhh…" 

"Ohhh…" Jesi mocked.

"Uh-oh." Obi-Wan muttered.

"Uh-oh, what?" 

"Uh-oh as in it will be emptied in…" He looked at the time. "15 minutes. Come on." He said standing.

"Obi-wan." Jesi said sliding off the counter.

"What?" He asked coming back into the kitchen. 

"I have to get dressed in _DAY clothes first. A robe and night gown don't suit me well in public." She told him._

"Oh, right. Hurry." 

Jesi threw a bananna at him and went back to her room.

**********

"Early morning, Mrs. Stafferi. He dragging you around already?" Chedric asked as Jesi and Obi-Wan went up the stairs. 

Jesi didn't lift her sunglasses but waved the carry mug of coffee at him, "Can you believe it? On my day off no less." She said following the Jedi Padawan inside.

********

Obi-Wan shifted his weight about a million times as they went up on the lift. Jesi glanced at him from behind her glasses. She still didn't dare take them off. They may just cover her eyes, but at least no one had to look at tired, blood shot eyes.

"Kid, calm down, we'll get it." She told him. "And thank the Gods you didn't have any coffee." 

He mocked glared at her. "You're lucky. What happens if they already emptied it?" 

"Who empties it?" 

"Droids. Go to every quarter and collect the trash from the chutes below the bins."

"Interesting." Jesi murmured.

"Jesi." Obi-Wan said lowly.

"What?" She asked innocently.

The lift stopped and they stepped out onto the level Obi-wan and Qui-Gon's quarters were on. Stopping at the door Obi-Wan slid his access card in quickly and it opened. As Jesi was following inside she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey Kid, time to go this way." She said jogging, though well balancing her mug, after the droid system she just saw.

"Huh?" Obi-Wan asked just turning around as she disappeared from the door.

"Padawan, what are you doing?" Qui-Gon asked coming in from the balcony.

"Errands Master, like I said in the note."

"At 6:30 in the morning?" Qui-Gon asked skeptically.

"Early start, that's what you always taught me."

A commotion occurred down the corridor and they both looked out the open door.

"I should disable you for that!" Obi-Wan winced knowing it was Jesi. "Hey! Come back here you little piece of scrap metal!" Two bleeps replied.

Obi-wan looked at his Master. "I'll be right back.." With that he hurried out the door again. 

Qui-Gon stood silent looking at the door.

"I don't even want to know." He murmured to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jesi, what are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked finally catching up to her as she was following the droid.

"This…thing!...had the nerve to take my coffee! Sucked it right up!" 

Obi-Wan grimaced.

Two bleeps.

"Well I don't care, I want it back!" Jesi said.

Three bleeps…and a bling.

"You little!" Jesi kicked it.

"Jes! Don't get thrown out of here." Obi-Wan said dragging her back. "Besides how do you know what it's saying?"

"Every droid uses a type of code. We had to learn over 50 of them in training when I started with IGPG." She said. "Your garbage is now making it's way down the garbage chute right there." She pointed at one a few feet away.

Bleepidy, bleep, bleep, bleep…bleep, the droid began moving down the hall.

"Oh go shut down." Jesi snapped.

"Come on." Obi-Wan said going back to the garbage chute. 

"How do you open it?" He asked looking at the solid metal door.

Jesi pressed a small button next to the door. It opened with a swish. 

"I'm a genius." She said with a smile.

"Of course Jesi. Come on, let's go." He said starting to crawl in.

"Oooo no! I don't think so." Jesi stepped back.

"Jes.."

"No, I got a thing with garbage chutes." She said.

"How could you have a thing with garbage chutes?"

"Because they're made for garbage!" She exclaimed. The few people in the corridor looked at the two. 

"You're not going to help me?" Obi-Wan asked, now was the time to pull out all the stops.

Jesi eyed him, "Don't do that." 

"I can't believe you won't help me."

"Stop it." 

"And all this time I thought-"

"Oh shut up. You're going first." She said miserably.

"You love me Jes."

"Yeah, yeah." She said with a wave of her hand.

Obi-Wan crawled into the chute head first and quickly slid out of view. Jesi sighed looking at the people in the hall. 3 maybe. 

"Nothing to see. Just keep going on with your day." She said then dove into the chute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mace Windu, accomplished Jedi Master and Council Member, paused his reading. Was that something banging in the wall? Suddenly, accompanied by that banging, there was yelling. It was muffled and he couldn't make it out. 

Standing he moved to the wall and put his ear to it. Then, as fast as it started, it stopped. Mace blinked.

"I need to get more sleep." He muttered to himself moving back towards the chair he had risen from.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jesi's cries came to a cease as she dropped 15 feet into a load of something. 

"Oh, this is disgusting." She said flinging grime off her hands.

"Thanks Jes." Obi-Wan said wiping the grime off of his face.

"Hey, you brought me down here buba, don't start complaining now." She said as he tried to move in the chest deep slop he had landed in.

"Alright, start looking." He said. Jesi looked around them. Garbage for twenty feet out each way.

"How are we supposed to find it in here?" She asked shifting to stand. 

"Not sure on that yet, but we'll figure it out."

"Oh, yeah, sure, we'll just-" Jesi had accomplished standing but when she took a step she sank down to her ribs. "Urgh…" She groaned.

**** Nearly 3 hours later ****

"I'm starting to lose hope here." Jesi said pulling herself out of the garbage that she had sank in again.

"In the Force, there is always hope." Obi-wan recited digging handfuls of the slop out and looking through it before he chucked it over his shoulder.

"Yes Master Yoda." Jesi said slinging a piece of garbage at him.

"Hey, you don't know who you're messing with." Obi-Wan said throwing a clump at her. It splatered on her shoulder.

"Oh, gross!"

"Come on Jes, where's your sense of youth? All kids like garbage and dirt." 

"I think that was just you because you're a completely disturbed child! And my sense of youth disappeared a long time ago. I'm 31, remember sonny." She replied throwing a rotten piece of lettuce at him.

"Urg, you Jedi are unhygienic. Was this morning clean out the rotten freezer, or something?" 

"Don't talk about Jedi, you're one of us remember."

"Ah, I'm Force-Sensitive, not a Jedi. That was made clear to me many times while I was here in my teens." She correctly lightly.

"Still." Obi-wan said.

"What time did you have to be off by?" She asked wiping the grim off her chrono.

"I should be back in my quarters to get things ready by 9 hundred hours."

"Then you're exactly 4 minutes and 32 seconds late." She said.

"What?! No! I have to find this!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.

Jesi just looked at him. "I could keep looking." She said.

"No, I don't want you to look for me." He said.

"I don't mind kid." She said. "I'm not going to get much dirtier."

"No…I guess I'm just going to have to go without it." Obi-Wan said with a sigh.

"Come on, we should go." He said trudging through the garbage towards the hatch door to the right.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. What's lost is lost, that's what Master Yoda always says." He said. 

Jesi shrugged a little then followed.

***********

_Am I going to tell Master Qui-Gon? Maybe I should…maybe I shouldn't. Ack, I'm late._

Obi-Wan pushed his thoughts aside and moved out of the 'fresher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesi felt like the human garbage display. Needless to say she'd gotten a few odd looks on her way back to her apartment.

Coming to her door something suddenly clicked.

"O! That's it!" She said turning and running back down the hall.

*******

"Holy sh-…what happened to you?" Billy asked as Jesi trudged into his office.

"Minor complication. I need your help with something." She said.

"Am I going to look like you when I'm through?" He asked with a grimace.

"You couldn't look this good if you tried." Jesi said with a smile.

"Funny. What do you want me to do?" He asked.

*******

"We're getting strange looks." Billy said as they entered the Temple. The guardsman, Chedric, had allowed them in on Jesi's account of recognition.

"Well you always get strange looks, you're used to it." Jesi said leading him up a quick flight of stairs. 

"Is it insult Billy day or something today?" Billy asked as they went to a chute door to the side.

"Yeah, didn't you know that? Universal Holiday now." She said making the chute door open.

"Now what?" Billy asked.

"You give me this, and then you follow." Jesi said taking the personal size material scanner from him.

"Follow you where?" He asked.

"Kowa-bunga." She said diving into the chute.

"You've got to be joking…" Billy muttered.

"Sir, can I help you?" A Jedi asked seeing Billy certainly didn't belong there.

"Uh, no, I got it." He said jumping into the chute.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Nearly ready Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked standing in the doorway seeing Obi-Wan sitting between his two bags on his sleep couch looking like he was thinking.

"Y-Yes Master. Ready." Obi-Wan said snapping back to his senses.

Qui-Gon frowned. "Is something wrong Padawan?"

"No. No, nothing's wrong. Why would you say that?" Obi-Wan asked.

_Oh, you're busted now. He thought._

"You just seem a little off in the distance." Qui-Gon said moving inside and sitting down next to him.

"Oh, well, you know." 

Qui-Gon chuckled. "Your first solo mission, I trust you'll do very well."

Obi-Wan smiled a little at the praise.

"It's alright to be nervous Padawan, I was there once too." 

"I'm not nervous, it's just…"

Qui-Gon eyed him. Obi-Wan went for the next exit stage left, "I'm nervous." He blurted as a reason.

Qui-Gon laughed a little patting him on the back.

~~~~ Meanwhile….. ~~~~~

"Jesiana K. Stafferi, you owe me incrediably big for this!" Billy exclaimed trying to get himself out of the muck.

"I know, I know. This is just payback." She replied entering a few figures into the scanner.

"Payback? _For what?!" _

"I don't know, but I'm sure you owed me for something. Payback's a bitch."

"Yeah, you remember that." Billy said, grumbling as he 'swam' his way towards her.

"This shouldn't be difficult." Jesi told him.

"That's what you said when we had to hide away on a cargo ship..were caught and nearly thrown out in space." Billy said.

"Who saved our asses in that?" She asked knowing full well she had gotten them out of that.

"Who got our asses in that?" He replied.

"AH HA! Got you, you sucker!" Jesi said suddenly as the small screen flashed a figure.

"That's what we're looking for?" Billy asked as she pushed through the garbage.

"Uh-huh."

"Big. You owe me **_BIG!" He shouted as she dug through an area._**

"Here it is." She said pulling her arm back out of it revealing a garbage covered stone.

Billy looked at it. He turned away towards the door hatch grumbling a few choice words.

"Billy, come on now. It wasn't that much trouble now was it?" She asked as he pulled himself out of the garbage...then sank again. Jesi grimaced and moved towards him, keeping the stone in a tight hand.

**********

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stood in the hanger side by side waiting for the door to open. As it did Qui-Gon turned to his Apprentice.

"Remember your teachings and stay out of trouble." 

Obi-Wan grinned at the way he said the last part. "You can completely trust me Master." 

Qui-Gon smiled, "I know. Good luck, and may the Force be with you, Padawan." 

Obi-Wan nodded lowly and moved to board.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi if you get on that shuttle and not turn around right now I'm going to beat you." Jesi called. 

Qui-Gon turned to look at her and coughed, trying not to laugh or say anything. She was covered, head to toe, in grime. Except on one hand she had a black glove on.

Obi-Wan looked at her.

"I'd give you a hug and all, but I don't think you'd appreciate it much." She said holding out a gloved hand. He eyed her and shook it, he bit his tongue so as not to smile too much. The surface of the stone they'd been looking for all morning touched inside his hand.

"Good luck." She said with a smile and a wink.

"Thank you Jesi." Obi-Wan told her smiling then turning again.

Jesi and Qui-Gon didn't say anything as the hatch closed. When the engines started they both turned and walked through the hanger. Qui-Gon glanced Jesi up and down.

"Don't even ask…" She muttered.

"I wasn't going to." He said with a chuckle.

**End**

Heh, like I said, just a shortie. There's three or four other shorties I've written between the major stories of the series. Tell me if I should post them or burn them. ;) Oh, and if anyone's reading Treading Dark Waters at the current, don't worry, I'll be upping within a few days at the most. Have faith!

Till Later,

Elli


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